STAG HUNT, 12min., USA
Directed by Andre Kezzyn
Trapped in a closed timelike curve, our duo is learning to cooperate by running through a paradox inside of an infinite hotel. By doing so, they seek an escape from the loop and meaning in a quantum multiverse.

Get to know writer Michele Reilly:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

We started shooting on this plot theme with the two characters, Seth and Michele, in 2021 in our first silent short film, Steeplechase. Steeplechase was well-received and won many awards. So, with “Stag Hunt,” I wanted to put these characters into a situation where they are shown facing their inescapable destiny, and the repeated failed predicament leads to something new revealed to the audience.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

We shot over two days, and I wrote and completed the character dialog roughly two weeks before that.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Realist macabre.

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

My friend had passed away a month before the shoot, and I was in a kind of altered mind state. It was hard to fly away from that and work on this, but before leaving his side, I understood what our film theme needed to be about. Talking with him was the impetus for showing an interpretation of death living inside a computational universe/quantum multiverse.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

Hearing from a professional audience in the filmmaker community was very satisfying and useful. We know we are not professional actors; we are scientist philosophers. Seth and I teach a course at MIT called the Art and Science of Time Travel. It felt great to be appreciated for the writing, cinematography, and story.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

We shot our first silent feature pilot in 2021. After those results and the reception in the community from Steeplechase, I decided I wanted to turn the theme into a mini-series. We will be filming more Sci-Fi shorts with these two characters.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

Casablanca, Lord of the Rings, Wizard of Oz.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?

We would love to meet people interested in co-producing our mini-series based on these two scientific collaborators featured in Stag Hunt and grow our fan base.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?

Smooth and streamlined, it works!

10. What is your favorite meal?

This year, I made a “no-relatives” Thanksgiving dinner. We sent an open invitation to students from the Harvard Divinity School nearby. Those with no family nearby and those with nowhere else to go for the holiday. I made (my favorite) vegan pumpkin soup and a Bulgarian entree called “Banitza.” It’s a spinach and feta cheese filo dough pie. I also love Ethiopian food.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

We will be producing a comedic long-form Weekend Update with scientific Nobel Laureates from around the world featuring several theoretical physicists about the AI apocalypse and with a time travel theme first thing in the new year 2024. Most people do not know that Einstein’s theory of General Relativity doesn’t rule out time travel in the sense that closed time-like curves are a solution to the equations in the theory. We expect to produce more content on this with these two characters (in Stag Hunt) based on a graphic novel I am working on.